Rotten Links
by twinSlayer
Summary: A hacker's world isn't just made up of 0s and 1s.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello readers! twinSlayer reporting back to work!**

 **This story was only a crack, I think, and it will be a few short chapters, because I'm doing it for fun! It just came up when I watched CSI: Cyber and then Akashi's face came to my desktop. So blame him. * _dodges flying scissors_ ***

 **Anyways, enjoy this story, although as incorrect as it might be hahah ._." Oh, and also, Kagami is a cop in here.**

 **Disclaimer: KuroBasu isn't mine.**

* * *

At first, it was only a few harmless hacking. Nothing to injure, let alone kill. Maybe hurting feelings were inevitable, but Kuroko only inflicted some annoying spams to those who annoyed him in the first place. He never directed the meaningless spams to other people who has nothing to do with him.

 _Cowardly_ , was what his forked-eyebrow friend always said. Kuroko never cared about it. This was _his_ way of defending himself, since he's not all brawny for a physical fight, and surely he would be blown away to a nearby wall from the first punch thrown at him. Kuroko proclaimed that his head was more developed than his weak body, and fighting is all about using your best features. Also, Kuroko doesn't want to involve in a fight he can never win.

Unfortunately, his hacking abilities brought him into custody of the police corps, because of something he didn't commit. He suspected the framing came from one of his enemies, and Kuroko wasn't sure which one since, well, his enemies were increasing as the years went by. Was it maybe the pun spammer, UruguEye? Or maybe nyanFace and ANGELvoice? He can't decide on one. Kuroko admitted, he was quite popular in the underground hacking world, although no one really know how he looked like. Even though they saw him, they will never would have guessed the short and pale man with baby-blue hair was a world renowned hacker. A perfect disguise.

It was not long after his detention, Kuroko was asked by a strong lady named Aida Riko to help them with the current case. They even admitted that their weakness on the cyber realm will put them in a grave danger not only to the city, but to the whole country. The exaggerated statement made Kuroko gulped. In the end, the man agreed to lend a hand, in return, he wanted no statement of him involved in the case since it will blow away his identity he hid for so long.

And so, the man displayed his inhumane ability to hack into the world satellite, tracked down the criminal in question, and also stole some time to detect whoever put the blame on him; In which Kuroko planned more than a hundred ways to scar the person's mentality for eternal.

But Kuroko can't say that he hated this turn of event, because after the capture of the criminal, Corporal Aida Riko gave Kuroko a job position he dreamt of; Employee in the Investigation Department of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Bureau. Technically, he's gonna be a detective.

No one in their sane mind would let that opportunity slip.

* * *

"Kagami-kun?"

The dark-redhead turned around, together with his slumped body settled on the chair. He jolted away from his desk. "What do you want, Kuroko?"

"Do you see Corporal anywhere?" asked Kuroko, his hands occupied with files he needed to hand over to the woman.

"I think she was having lunch with Hyuuga. Go and take a look at the café, cuz I might be wrong." Kagami stuffed his mouth with a cheeseburger. The paler man took his chance to glance at Kagami's messy desk. Only cheeseburgers filled his sight. And it kinda reminded him at how much he needed to fill his empty stomach later. Kuroko felt like he could pass out any moment now.

"Oy Kuroko."

His glance went back to the munching man, now his mouth stained with some mustard and tomato sauce.

"I'm gonna be home late tonight, so make your own dinner, 'kay? Or do you want me to make some time to go home and make a dish for you?" Kagami asked out of concern. Being Kuroko's roomate for more than five years, he knew the petite man would forget to eat when he's too absorbed in his work, and now it's even worse since Kuroko was needed in almost every case. He was a cop himself and he knew how demanding the job can be sometimes.

"It's okay, Kagami-kun. I can take care of myself. You just focus on your work here."

"I'm gonna call you to make sure you've eaten."

"I can't remember you being this nosy before."

"Damn, Kuroko, it's called being motherly."

"Understood. I'll call you Mom from now on."

"FUCK NO DAMMIT!"

* * *

"We've got a new case, Kuroko," said Corporal Aida once Kuroko went into her office to hand over the files. Kuroko was baffled, but his poker face refused to make a change of expression. He might die and be reborned in a minute, and no one could ever detect the difference.

"A big case?"

"Not really, but the person who reported was assuring us it's a BIG deal," sighed the corporal. In her line of work, these kinds of people were nothing new. Although she can't say she gained her migraine from something other than her work.

Kuroko nodded. "Anything I need to do?"

"Yes. As you can see from the screen, the said person got an email from his bank that his money was constantly being checked out, and lately the money kept increasing."

"Why didn't he report to the bank?"

"The bank said there was no suspicious figure seen using his card or anything, and his cards were safely kept with him all the time. So he figured out that maybe someone hacked into his account online. Hence, that's where we come in."

Kuroko licked his dry lips. This was a usual electronic burglary. In the internet, nothing is safe once it is on the web. Kuroko's parents were once tricked like this, and it angered him to no end that the burglar was only jailed for two years. Unlike his expressionless demeanor, Kuroko was actually pretty short-tempered.

"I can track down the IP address and the coordinate of the hacker. Please give me a minute." His fingers went to Aida's keyboard and started typing quickly. Aida scooted away from her computer to give room to Kuroko. Not long after that, a coordinate appeared on the screen, giving away a location for Aida to inspect.

"Okay, got it. Good work, Kuroko-kun!" Aida smiled and took out her phone to start calling out her troupe for the capture of the thief. "Oh, and the one who reported is at the hall. Please tell him everything's going to be fine." Her figure disappeared into the lift, her body getting ready to beat the burglar senseless. Kuroko walked out of the room after putting her computer to Sleep mode, and saw a tall blonde pacing back and forth nervously at the path nearby.

 _Yep, this is the one_ , Kuroko thought. The blonde's face was expressive, he can tell, no wonder he was so easy to be deceited.

"Excuse me, sir?"

The blonde jumped, screaming a little _Eeek_ while at it. Meanwhile, Kuroko only looked up to him with a blank expression. "Corporal Aida Riko wanted me to pass this to you. She said not to worry, she got this."

And the gold head nodded, releasing a relieved sigh. He brushed his bright yellow hair, and then his eyes met with Kuroko's sky blue pupils. "And you are?"

"I'm sorry, that was very rude of me. I'm Kuroko Tetsuya, one of her employees."

The blonde only replied with an 'Oh', portraying an extreme uninterest in the plain man standing right in front of him. He had met with hundreds of gorgeous people, and meeting with Kuroko was only one of the countless encounters he made everyday with normal citizen out there.

"So do you need coffee or any beverage? Corporal Aida might take a while, so I suggest for you to take a seat at the lounge."

"That's very kind of you, but no thanks. I'm not in the mood for any drinks now."

"I see." Kuroko wanted to turn his back to the blonde, but to him it was kinda rude to just let him roam around the place without an escort. He was an outsider after all. "I'll be at my desk if you need anything," said Kuroko, and he walked away from the intense awkwardness seeping in between them.

* * *

"It was all a success, thanks to our little buddy here!" said Aida in a rather high tone. Kuroko can only blush at the appreciation shown from his superior. He stood beside Corporal Aida bashfully.

Meanwhile, the blonde could only gape his mouth open. This person was a hacker? This plain, normal, uninteresting, short, expressionless, skinny person was a hacker?!

Deep down in the blonde's heart, he somehow felt defeated by his own judgement. It's never good to judge a person too much, and this time he'd overdone himself by meeting Kuroko.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry, I never would've thought…" and he paused. "…So what was your name again, miss?"

Miss?

 _Miss?_

 _ **Miss?!**_

Kuroko gritted his teeth inside his mouth silently, and Aida Riko was laughing hard on the floor, tears formed at her eyes. In between her laugh, Kuroko thought he could hear a ' _He called you Miss_ ' from the Corporal.

"I am Kuroko Tetsuya," he answered calmly, and his blue orbs shot a death glare to the blonde. " **Mister** Kuroko Tetsuya."

Dumbfounded, the blonde muttered a series of apologies. "I'm really sorry! I didn't mean it! I mean, you looked pale, skinny, and small, I was about to introduce you to my agency as a fellow model…"

"I am flattered by the offer, but I'm afraid I must decline. I'm comfortable with my work as it is now." And Kuroko gave him a silent treatment afterwards, letting Aida Riko do all the talking. Whenever the gold orbs tried to meet with his eyes, Kuroko ran his gaze outside.

Finally the blonde left after completing a couple of forms, and gave Kuroko some time to breath in. Aida Riko patted on his shoulder, and said, "we're done here for the day. You can go back now."

A simple nod was enough, and Kuroko can't wait to make a mashed potato for his dinner, because damn, he needed to imagine the blonde's face at a place where he can smash legally.

* * *

"Kuroko."

"Hmn?" replied Kuroko with his mouth stuffed with mashed potato, still minding not to stain the phone's speaker.

"You eating right now?"

Kuroko wiped some potatoes that leaked from his mouth. "Yes, I'm eating."

"What is it?"

He scoffed. This is beyond nosy. "Mashed potato."

"Veggies?"

"None."

"What?!"

 _Here it comes._

"Kuroko, you can't just eat mashed potato _only_ , at least have fruits after this. Wait do we have fruits? Agh, nevermind. I'll just buy some before I get home. Kuroko, you take a look at the fridge and make yourself some vegetable dish! For God's sake, I can't leave this kid to live alone!"

"Kagami-kun."

"What?" Somehow his bickering stopped.

"Thank you."

"Huh?"

Kuroko formed a soft smile. He was grateful that he has someone to take care of his well-being.

"I said, thank you, _Mom_."

Before Kagami could demonstrate his astonishing knowledge of profanities, Kuroko ended the call. It's not good to curse in front of food anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! So here's the second chapter for this story. I've been getting a lot of headaches for Akashi's case. But, here it is! (Thank God the writer's block cleared up during midnight ._.)**

 **Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basket is a work of Fujimaki Tadatoshi.**

* * *

"Kuroko?"

The pale man curled up on his bed, pulling his pillow closer to his ears.

"Kuroko, it's almost 8. Wake up," said Kagami while pulling Kuroko's gold Piyo plush away from him; the only way to wake the man up. Sensing the gold plush wasn't in his grasp anymore, Kuroko groaned like a Shrek.

"Kagami…"

Since in the morning, everybody is grumpy, so Kagami didn't mind the absence of honorifics from Kuroko.

"I said, wake up, sleepyhead!" Kagami pulled out his uniform from the closet nearby, and took out Kuroko's too. At this rate, Kuroko will wake up when the clock struck 7.59 AM, so he took an alternative route. Rather than facing Aida Riko's wrath, Kagami thought experiencing Kuroko's grumpiness was cute. He crept closer to Kuroko's ears and whispered jokingly, "Miss Kuroko~"

 _PANG!_

Kagami decided to use another joke next time. This kid's slap was not to be messed with.

* * *

"Wow, nice blusher, Kagami," greeted Kiyoshi when he saw Kagami the first thing after he entered the office. Kagami only growled. "Do I look like in the mood of femininity today, Kiyoshi-senpai?"

The bigger man whistled. "Welp, what's up with that purple print then?" Kiyoshi glanced at Kagami's left cheek that was colored with dark purple. Kagami only _tch_ ed from his desk.

"It's Kuroko."

Kiyoshi lifted his brow. "So… Love bite?"

"HECK NO!"

The bigger man's laugh echoed. "I'm sorry, I was just kidding. Did he punched or kicked you?"

To answer, Kagami motioned his opened palm to his cheek, and Kiyoshi's laugh was heard once again. "Maybe it's his time of the month."

"Talk about it," replied Kagami, a scowl still on his face. "This made me rethink of having a girlfriend, if this is what PMS would look like."

"Please don't compare me to a woman." Suddenly a voice came from behind Kagami, which resulted in a jump from the man.

"Kuroko, appear normally, for God's sake!" yelled Kagami, who was now clinging to Kiyoshi like a koala. Kuroko only gave the man a blank face, with both of his hands holding two cups of coffee from Starbucks. "I've been here for quite a while."

"You've got to be kidding me?!"

" _Do I look like in the mood of femininity today, Kiyoshi-senpai_ ," Kuroko repeated Kagami's line, as a try to mock his roomate. "Starting from there and onwards, I was sitting beside you," said Kuroko as he handed Kagami his beverage.

"Black coffee with sugar?"

Kuroko was stunned but it was just for a short while, and thankfully Kagami was unaware of the change. "Um. Yes." And the blue-haired man ran to his desk. Kagami only watched Kuroko while pouting his mouth and sipped his black coffee calmly.

…Until he spluttered his coffee back out.

"YOU BASTARD, THERE'S NO SUGAR!"

* * *

"Embez-what?"

"Embezzlement."

Koganei wrote down the word on his small notebook, and later his focus went back to Aida Riko.

"Are you done?"

He nodded with a silly grin spread across his face.

"So our case for today was to crack the money theft happening in Akashi & Co. The treasurer, Akashi Seijuurou, reported that there was 10.4 million missing when he was balancing out the company's finance for the month. He had checked all the trading records meticulously and found that it was indeed an act of embezzlement. Unless the burglar knew the password for the company's account, it is almost impossible to dig into it."

Aida Riko's squad stood silently in front of the quick presentation lead by none other than the Corporal herself. Kagami, Kuroko, Kiyoshi and Koganei glued their eyes to the screen, taking in every bit of useful informations.

"Almost?" asked Kagami. The Corporal nodded. "If the criminal is a hacker, then there's a way of crawling into the account."

"What about the treasurer?" asked Koganei.

"You mean Akashi Seijuurou?"

Koganei nodded.

"He is the leader's own son, he will inherit the company sooner or later. Any way I see it, it's pointless for him to start taking money now."

"Oh?" Koganei chuckled at his own question, feeling stupid. He was only a follower in Aida Riko's squad, but he was a fine follower. No one could be a blind-follower as good as him, he once declared. Some of his friends were awed, and most of them cannot conceal an utmost sympathy towards Koganei.

"After some thorough investigation from our fellow FBI agent, Kagami-kun and Koganei-kun, we have two suspects. Reo Mibuchi, a leader from the rival company, and Hayama Kojirou, Akashi Unosuke's shareholder for the company. Both have a quite strong alibi, but we can't put away their motives. Reo's motive was indifferent to all of us since he's a rival, and Hayama might want to be the sole leader to the company and hog all the company's money to himself, and hence, the embezzlement. Although, we can say that we're lucky, someone managed to get into the account and started tracing from where the account was being fiddled with, but it was just for a brief moment before the person got himself flooded with computer viruses capable of shutting down the computer in an instant," Aida Riko explained more.

All these hacking information made Kuroko put the end of his thumb to his lips, a sign he was thinking of a way to penetrate into the wall of virus. The people around him became obscure, and the only thing in his mind was his computer. _Considering the virus was able to shut down the whole computer, it will be dangerous. His computer was his life, and losing it means he's as good as dead. Using the office's computer was riskier; the hacker could use the virus to destroy important clues and most importantly; the database. Most likely they will use the opportunity to use the connected line to erase or alter their personal details_ …

"Kuroko-kun?"

The small man stayed with his thinking pose silently, still unmoved. His quiet breath and still eyes made the crowd thought they were being with a porcelain doll. Kiyoshi took this chance to take out his cellphone and…

 _Snap._

Hearing a camera shutter sound sucked Kuroko out of his world. His head turned around to see the whole squad was eyeing him intently, except for Aida Riko and Kiyoshi Teppei.

"What did you do, Teppei?" she facepalmed.

Kiyoshi chuckled, his cheeks tainted with pink blush. "Eheh… Sorry. Kuroko-kun looked so cute like that."

And the rest of them secretly asked Kiyoshi to send them the picture later.

"So, Riko-chan," Kiyoshi spoke, going back to his work mode, "Maybe we can set up an appointment with the hacker that succeed in tracking the criminal's computer?"

"I'm already a step ahead of you. He's in the interrogation room now," Aida Riko gave them a confident smirk. "Teppei, Kuroko-kun, go to him."

* * *

"Well, well, if it isn't the Akashi Seijuurou himself," said Kiyoshi after he and Kuroko walked into the room and saw a familiar shade of magenta locks. Akashi gave them his famous business expression.

"So what is it that you wanted to know?"

Kuroko took the seat in front of Akashi quickly. He was eager to meet with a fellow hacker. "What did you see in the criminal's computer?"

"It was only for a second, I couldn't describe _all_ of it."

"So how did you hack into the computer?"

"I logged into the company's account and noticed the discrepancy in the money's checkout history. So I took a look at the one who was doing it. Just a few seconds of playing around with my computer skills, and I managed to trace the IP address of the criminal. It was one of the rarely used computers in the building, but not totally dysfunctional. I was lucky that time, the criminal always connected the internet cable, so we won't have a problem about not locating from where the hacking came from."

Now Kuroko had the time to lean back at the chair, and he breathed out a heavy sigh. "You still remember where the computer is?"

"I could guess. The company's building was practically my playground," Akashi snickered.

Sometimes Kuroko can't stop wondering about the fool who was messing with Akashi. He doesn't need to dig his own grave, because Akashi can tell the grave to dig itself for him.

* * *

With a powerful kick from Kagami, the basement's door slammed to the floor with dusts climbed up in the air. A scout of FBI agents complete with firearms crawled into the room.

"FREEZE!"

A figure was seen scampered in front of a dim light in the lightless room, and Koganei jumped at the unknown figure. The two tumbled on the ground, and Koganei caught and twisted the arms backwards, making him unable to move.

"Alright, everyone, hold your fire. The criminal's caught," said the redhead, loud enough for his underlings to hear.

 _BLAM_!

"Dammit! I said hold fire!" bellowed Kagami angrily.

"Um… Kagami-kun," Koganei called from behind the criminal.

"What?"

"That was my fart."

Silence crossed the room.

"Koganei-senpai, are you sure?" Kagami asked, can't help from letting a sweatdrop fell on his head.

"It's a perfect disguise to fake a gunshot, wasn't it?" Koganei asked shamelessly.

Kagami sighed, embarassed for his co-worker, and the rest of the scout team stifled their laugh. Sometimes higher-ups have their own silly times.

"Just make sure to see a doctor about that, senpai."

* * *

"So, who are you working with, Nebuya-san?" Riko banged the table in front of the hacker, and he let out an 'Eep' at Riko's wrath.

"It's Hayama! He's my acquaintance!" answered Nebuya, rather energetically for a criminal caught red-handed. He breathed out a sigh. "I told him that this is wrong, but he kept insisting me that this was for the better. Unosuke was too gentle of a guy to be a leader, and the Akashi kid was doing all the planning for him. Technically, the boy was the company's head, and Hayama wanted to take over the leadership. If I can take away as much money as possible, and made people realize it was gone and started blaming Unosuke, he will be forced to step down from the throne, and made Hayama the new head." He tousled his short hair, and rubbed his face with a loud sigh. "I told him, I **told** him, this is a bad idea…"

"Well, maybe you should've reconsidered your dastardly deeds more, Nebuya," said Riko. "Do you ever think about the employees working in the company? How they are going to feed their families if the company's in chaos like this?"

"I know that!" Nebuya replied. "I am one of the employees, okay? You think I have no idea?"

"Then what moves you to do it?"

"Firstly, he's my best friend, and secondly, it was only for a short while. After a few months, the company will be back to peace," said the man. "Or that's how I wanted to perceive it."

Aida Riko went silent. She was angry, angrier than ever. It was better if she didn't speak anymore, or she's afraid she might bite off his head next. She called in the officers standing outside the room, and told them to bring Ootsuba to the prison.

"Get an arresting warrant too. We're taking Hayama."

"Corporal!" yelled a tiny voice from Riko's back. She turned around.

"Kuroko-kun?"

"You've gotta see this!" Kuroko pulled out a sheet of paper and showed them to Riko. Her eyes went wide. A total of more than 20.51 million was pulled back into the account, and it's certainly more than what she recalled got embezzled out of Akashi's company.

"Oh wow, that's a _**lot**_ of refund."

"Yes, and to be honest, it's even more than what was taken," said Kuroko. His ragged breath was still in the way of talking. "Also, the money didn't come from only one source, there's two, and it was sucked out from the rival company. All done with hacking. No other person can do this except…"

Riko continued. "…Akashi Seijuurou."

* * *

"Why, Akashi-kun?" asked Riko patiently. Akashi only gave her his confident and stoic face, burning her anger even more. The interrogation room that was supposed to be empty by now was occupied again, because Akashi decided to take things into his hands.

"I'm only putting back the money to where it belonged."

"Excuse me?"

"Reo's company have a debt to be settled, and it's been a year and a half since he passed the deadline to finish repaying it," responded Akashi, soothing yet disturbing in its own way. "Because of my father is a softie, he's taking advantage of it. I'm not letting anyone stepping on our heads like that."

"You realize you could get into the jail for this, right?"

"I don't mind," he simply retorted. Aida Riko almost went total ballistic.

"Why?"

"It's for the employees. They're getting their fair share of wages. As a leader, I can endure everything for them to be treated correctly."

* * *

"Man, I kinda hate a criminal like that," said Kagami, his eyes attached to the road ahead. Slowly, their car, driven by Kagami, slid down the road and joined the other cars.

"Why?" asked Kuroko. He quietly sipped in his vanilla milkshake. _Oh, heaven_ , he thought, as he closed his eyes and revered the sweet and milky taste on his tongue.

" _It's for the better, it's for the people, yada yada_. Can't they just use the correct way of obtaining money?" complained Kagami.

"Akashi-san is a smart man. If there's a way of getting the money without hacking, I think he would've thought about it." Kuroko's sky blue pupils shot back to the road, lips glued to the straw of the cup.

 _Yes, a very smart man indeed._ He gulped the milkshake slowly. _Too smart, it's a sin._

"Tch, still," Kagami sighed. "It's a shame. If he's out of job for that, I want Riko to recruit him into our team."

"You know, that is actually a very good idea. He would be a great addition to our team."

"Heh, smart idea, ain't it?"

Kuroko muttered, "Coming from you, it _is_ a smart idea."

The redhead pursed his lips. "Kuroko, have you ever heard about the term not to piss off the driver of the car you're riding?"

With that, Kuroko shut his mouth for the rest of the trip. He still loved his dear life, apparently.

* * *

 **Ahahahahaha I think that is the first time Kagami won an argument with Kuroko. So, do you like it or dislike it? (I wanted to use 'hate it' but it seems too strong for my heart to endure ;-;) Please leave a review to let me know!**

 **Again, I'm sorry for all the incorrect stats and facts in here. This is only a crack. I promise I will insert more laughter in here. But let's just hope we won't be laughing out of people's misery, okay? :'3 Well, then. See ya!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I am very sorry for the late update (like seriously this is soo late). I just went back to the States and my draft was left on the desk of my hometown which is 26 hours away of flight. So I have to reconstruct all the ideas and plan it all out again. God knows how much I miss sleep and those happy days of Before The Rise and Zombie Apocalypse.**

 **Okay, onwards to story! This time, it featured Araki Masako, the coach of Yosen High who needs more love and screentime. She's such a badass character and I wish I could have her more in the story.**

 **Disclaimer: Kuroko No Basket and CSI: Cyber aren't mine. They're… Um…What's their name again?**

* * *

Aida Riko's eyes stuck to the television screen while she was resting on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa in her hands. She read the flying titles that ran across the news.

 _Blackmailed 35 Days Before Election._

She sighed. Nowadays, people were more prone to stoop to that methodology in order to win power. This was why she never bothered to step into political issues, and she knew she would be a newborn baby if she wanted to. Her lips sipped the hot cocoa slowly, the steaming hotness made her lips tingle with it's sweet and bitter taste. Suddenly, her phone rang.

"Yes, Aida Riko speaking," she answered after putting down her beverage.

"Corporal," said Kiyoshi, and Aida straightened herself up. When Kiyoshi called her as Corporal and not as Riko-chan, it meant business. "I know it's your day-off, but can you come to the office? New case."

* * *

"What is the matter in this one?" asked Aida Riko as soon as her legs arrived at the office, now crowded with her squad and _is that the person she saw on TV just now_?

"Corporal," said all of them in sync, and the stranger only nodded at her way, as a sign of greeting. She then held out her hand, wanting a handshake from the superior. Aida Riko settled her right hand on the mystery person's palm and quickly get down to business.

"How can I help you?"

"Firstly, I know you might have seen me in news and other things, possibly for the election that was coming in a few weeks," spoke the woman in her forties. "Let me introduce myself first. I am Araki Masako, one of the candidates for the president election. If you guys saw the news this morning, I'm sure you already know why I am here," said the woman, gently but stern at the same time.

"You mean about the blackmail?" inquired Aida Riko, tilting her brow.

"Technically, it's not a blackmail, but maybe some sort of ransom note telling me that he or she have evidence of my double-sided lifestyle."

Unable to comprehend what Araki was saying, Aida Riko tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

The woman named Araki took a deep breath and after a minute of considering pros and cons of revealing her darkest secret, she finally answered, "Everyone has their own shameful story, and mine was also not something I should be talking about, let alone proud of." Her eyes settled on everyone in the room, asking for a cooperation in a no-voice manner. "Can I ask for you not to tell anyone about this? If not, my career cannot uphold for a long time."

Although it seemed like they were backed to a corner, they decided to agree. Secret keeping can't be that hard.

"I have my own kinkiness that needed to be satisfied once in a week, though I can't deny that all of us do have the same problem…" said Araki, covering her eyes with her palm and sighed again, feeling embarassed as if she was standing stark naked in front of the lot.

"I think that is ordinary," interrupted Kagami from the side.

"Unless you do it with someone's husband," Araki mumbled under her breath.

Their eyes enlarged as wide as they can, except for Kuroko, but they knew he was utterly shocked that his pale skin had gone paler in a second. One thing for sure, _that is one hell of a secret_.

"Please, guys. Don't tell anybody about this. The note says if I try to report this to the police, he or she will spread the video on the net. I don't know where they got it, but it must be from one of the CCTV," pleaded Araki.

Some of them were still speechless about it, while the others nodded. A client's case was confidential, and it won't leave their mouth even if someone tore their bodies bare.

"So you suspect someone hacked into a CCTV and caught you on camera?"

Araki nodded.

"Does the note tell you what they want in exchange?" asked Kuroko.

She shook her head.

"Well, that's the first," said Aida Riko. "Usually for big people like you, someone would ask for a big sum of money to trade for you little secret."

"Unless," Kuroko eyed the Corporal, "the hacker have a grudge towards her."

They all turned to Kuroko, sensing the logic in his words. "Do you know anyone who would do this to you?"

The woman sat on a chair and started thinking hard. "My guesses were the other candidates in the election. Maybe they want to stain my name to get more votes on their side, but I don't think they want to risk their name getting out there. The media could get very aggressive in political matters, I tell you."

"We can't just capture them and ask questions later. In any way, anyone will get to know this and it will make matters worse if they're innocent." Aida Riko breathed a frustrated sigh, rubbing her forehead at the same time. Another reminder: Politics are not her thing.

"Sounds like a job for us, Riko-chan," said Kiyoshi, giving the Corporal an ease of heart by only his smile.

"You're right. Kuroko, Teppei, find out who is behind the hacking of the CCTV. ASAP," ordered Aida Riko.

"Understood!"

* * *

Kuroko and Teppei stood beside each other, eyes staring blankly at the enormous computer screen in front of them. In the screen, a spread of the whole state's map was laid. Now they were confused from where they should start searching for signs of hacking because the suspect could be _anyone_ at this point.

"How are we gonna start our search?" asked Kuroko.

"Narrow it down to the area which Araki-san suspected the hacking occurred," answered Kiyoshi. Kuroko immediately cut the area to one section of the map, cutting down the possibility to almost 60%.

"Next?"

"Pick areas that have good lightings or high-resolution cameras. The hacker wouldn't recognize Araki-san if the video is blurry or half-lit."

Another batch of typing and clicking, and they're down to almost 20% from the original ginormous map.

"How much IP address, Kuroko?"

The small man sighed out of frustration. "Almost a 100."

"Damn," Kiyoshi cursed. He bit his lower lip, putting his mind back to work. "Can you detect people who do most hacking at night?"

Kuroko lifted his brow. "You mean range of ages or the trails left by them?"

"I meant trails, but if it's impossible, ages could work too," said Kiyoshi as he leant forward to Kuroko's armchair, stealing a glance at the computer screen of Kuroko's beloved laptop; Iggy.

"I think we can work out a way to recover the trails by the hacker, however if it's done with bluetooth, I'm afraid that gets us back to square one," Kuroko carefully explained. "But if it's range of ages, maybe it's most likely a teenager to early 40s. If it's done at midnight, we can try to search for hackers of the Deep Net that I know. They're usually active past 12."

"Mehhh, sounds like a late night work," whined Kiyoshi as his shoulders slumped and his chin met his big arms resting on the chair.

"Please stop sounding like an old man, Kiyoshi-senpai."

"But I am getting old for this kind of work," replied Kiyoshi instantly.

"You're only twenty-two, and you don't even have a family yet."

"I bet I'll age faster once I have a family of my own." Kiyoshi breathed out softly, closed his eyes for a while and later rose from the chair revealing his big muscular stature. "I'm going to start looking for potential people in that range, and Kuroko, Kagami's out there looking so angry. I bet he's looking for you."

The phantom looked at Kagami that was frantically hunting for Kuroko, and his hair was strangely dyed in luminous pink. Kuroko snickered. "Please tell him I'm not here."

Time to use misdirection.

"Wow, neon pink? What did he do to you for such a preposterous revenge?"

The small man scoffed, indignant. "He banned vanilla shake in the apartment."

"Oh I see."

The other officers didn't have to ask because they were used to seeing Kuroko-Kagami disputes since the day they started working there. Instead of helping, they decided to laugh at the comical face Kagami put.

"Yo, Kagami," greeted Kiyoshi, once the FBI agent stepped into his and Kuroko's office. "You look marvelous in that."

Kagami gave him a grunt accompanied with a frown.

"Kuroko said he's not here."

"Nice try, Kiyoshi-senpai," retorted Kagami, and his fierce eyes landed on Kuroko's usual sitting spot in the office. "And Kuroko! I saw you from the outside glass. Don't you dare to use misdirection to run away, prick."

Damn, misdirection didn't work.

* * *

While Kiyoshi was so immersed with his work, Kuroko went to get his take-out at the nearby Maji Burger, after a seemingly-endless argument with Kagami at the office. He was in the queue at the franchise, and suddenly his eyes spotted a familiar shade of gold bangs.

He can never forget that color, and the person, and the fake smile. The time spent for him to make a mashed potato while imagining the blond had given enough imaginary blond figure in his brain perfect for a punching bag. He ignored the person and focused his gaze back to the queue, which seemed like it's was _never getting shorter_.

He heard footsteps nearing his standing place. His figure stayed still, subtly wishing that the person was just walking by and never to be seen again.

"Kuroko-san?"

Well, shit.

Kuroko facepalmed. He should've used misdirection if he really doesn't want that one particularly annoying chick-faced model to identify him. Maybe he was just testing to see if he need to put a lot of effort in running away from the blond in future encounters. "Yes, can I help you?" asked Kuroko, his eyes deliberately and lazily looked at the model.

"It's me, Kise Ryouta! Don't you recognize me?" said the gold-haired man with 190cm height, making Kuroko lift his head enough for the man to see his exposed neck and collarbone in full expanse.

"No," replied Kuroko coldly. His legs moved forward when the line was moving towards the counters. The blond named Kise followed, to Kuroko's dismay.

"No way! You must remember me!" implied the blond again, in which Kuroko was trying his best not to throw a stray Nokia 3310 straight to the man's head. "Kurokocchi~! Don't ignore me!"

At the name _Kurokocchi_ , the baby blue haired man turned his gaze back to Kise. "Kurokocchi?"

"When I acknowledge a person's ability or powers, I add -cchi at their names," answered Kise, relentlessly following Kuroko in the line. Kuroko knew, and other people also knew, that Kise was only using a cheap trick to get into the line.

"So if you acknowledge Batman, do you call him Batmancchi?"

It was supposed to be a useless question to fill the time standing in the queue, but Kise's laugh was too loud for him to brush off. His mind replayed the question again, trying to find the part where Kise might find it funny enough for him to be panting and letting out tears while giggling.

"Kurokocchi, you're so funny," said Kise. His body getting closer and closer into the line, joining Kuroko. The blue-haired man eventually let him in, after sighing in defeat. He's weak to pushy people.

After they got their orders, Kuroko quickly headed out of Maji Burger, trying to run away from Kise as fast as possible, but because of his slightly-shorter-than-average-men's legs, Kise caught up to him in no time.

"Let me walk back with you," chirped the blond again, and Kuroko just imagined at the time where Kise would actually do not talk, because he's _damn noisy_.

"I am not a girl, Kise-san." Again, Kuroko acted coldly towards Kise's behaviour, which in turn, Kise stopped in his tracks and formed a sad face.

"Are you still mad at me, Kurokocchi?"

Kuroko was also weak to puppy eyes.

The pale man sighed, his hands shifted to get a more comfortable position of handling the foods. "After you called me miss? _No_ ," replied Kuroko sarcastically, but corteous enough to stop walking and wait for the blond to walk with him.

"I already said I'm sorry," cried Kise while faking tears like a kid, but thankfully he continued his walking. "Kurokocchi, you're quite childish to still hold a grudge on me for something like that."

"Hey, I'm only twenty okay? Don't speak like I'm thirty year-old fart," retorted Kuroko.

"You're twenty?!" And he stopped his steps again, where Kuroko began to calculate the time taken for him to actually arrive at his office. Maybe a month later. "Wow…"

"What do you mean _wow_?" asked Kuroko rather puzzled at Kise's response. "Now can we get going? I'm never gonna reach my office at this rate."

Kise then realized that he was taking a lot of time for his overreactions and agreed to pick up the walking pace. "But Kurokocchi, what do you eat for the past twenty years for you to be this…small?"

Is it just Kuroko or Kise suddenly act all friendly on Kuroko in a whim? "I eat just fine. Don't blame my DNA that I am this small."

"But you look so…" _cute and vulnerable_. Kise didn't say the sentence in its entirety because he's sure to face Kuroko's wrath the second time in his life.

They continued to chat until they reached Kuroko's office; Although Kise was the one that do most of the talking, and Kuroko only replied with his body gestures. In front of the office, Kagami was seen hanging out underneath the shade of the gate's arch. His pink hair was hidden under his cop's headwear.

"Yo, Kuroko. Where's my Big Mac?" asked Kagami as soon as he saw Kuroko walking towards him. "And who's that?"

Kuroko's hands rumbled around the brown paper bag he's holding and answered without looking. "His name is Kise Ryouta." After he found Kagami's order, he held it out.

"Oh, are you the one who called him _miss_ in front of our Corporal the other day?" Kagami asked Kise, without a splinter of guilt in his tone, and he even shook hands with the blonde complete a laugh. "You know that man bitched around about a blond guy calling him as a girl at workplace. I laughed my ass off for the whole night."

Will this 'miss' talk ever drop?

The two people continued to talk, and Kuroko thought there's almost no point for him to keep standing around when Kagami's busy badmouthing him in front of the chirping noisy Kise. "Kagami-kun, please take your Big Mac now. I'm off to work."

"Yeah, yeah," replied Kagami, letting Kuroko's words fell on deaf ears. "So are you two boyfriends now?" inquired Kagami while wiggling his eyebrows jokingly.

Kise, to Kuroko's disappointment, decided to play along. "How did you know?" And then they laughed.

"Kagami-kun…"

"Rumors spread fast. Hope you take good care of him!"

"Of course I will!"

"Kise-san…"

"Well, you kids use protection!"

"Can you supply us with that?"

Another batch of laughter boomed from their location. Kuroko stood there, deadpanned. These two were asking for it.

The Big Mac was later split to two: The upper part on Kise's face and the lower half to Kagami's forehead.

* * *

"Kurokoooooo~!" wailed Kiyoshi as soon as Kuroko stepped into the office with foods in hand. "I think I found the suspect!"

"You think?"

"Yeah, but Koganei and Riko-chan asked around the neighbourhood, and they say they were good kids. And hacking was never in their minds, and it will never be," said Kiyoshi. "That's kinda strange, because the way they said it was almost like these two were so angelic and lofty."

"That's a good guess then," retorted Kuroko. He put down the brown bag on his desk and looked at Kiyoshi with a meaningful glint in his stare. "The worst people are found with kind faces and behaviour. We should be wary of these suspects then."

* * *

"We're only asking to meet up with them," asked Riko nicely to the old man, the landlord for the two suspects' house, but he was so furious she thought she might've offended him in some way.

"No way Hanamiya and Murasakibara had done those horrendous deeds! You guys must have mistaken them for someone else," said the old man again, low-grunt but high-pitched at the same time. Koganei jolted a bit at the old man's angered tone. "These kids are good people! Do you know that Hanamiya got a 4.0 GPA at his school? And Murasakibara has a perfect attendance and full marks for behaviours by his teachers?"

"And they got into Dean's List for one year, isn't that right?" interrupted Koganei, suddenly pissed off at the old man's unexplained fury. "We got that. They're good kids, but this hacking is a serious offense against the people, and moreover to the higher-ups. If you cannot cooperate to our investigation, I'm afraid we have to arrest you too if the both of them are found guilty. And if they were not captured, they might hack more and more into the society and corrupt more things."

Riko was baffled by Koganei's sudden outburst, but it was understandable. This forceful effort was needed in an FBI agent, and Koganei didn't climb to his rank now if not because of his stern personality. "Now please let us question the two of them. And we'll make sure to release them if they truly are innocent," ended Koganei peacefully, in contrast to his fiery statement just now.

The old man sighed, rubbed his face, and nodded. He reached out for his phone and called the two of them out of their rooms.

* * *

"What do you mean it's wrong for me to capture her red-handed?" asked the purple-haired giant named Murasakibara. "And give me back my potato chips!"

Kagami smacked his face. This kid has no idea on how interrogation worked. "You're confiscated from your snacks until you answered all my questions truthfully."

"Then make it quick," grumbled Murasakibara, pouting his mouth and folding his arms on his body. He leant back on the chair and let his focused eyes settle on Kagami.

"Why do you threaten Araki-san?"

Murasakibara tilted his brow. "When did I threaten her?"

"Araki-san claimed that she got a ransom note telling her about the CCTV video and if she ever called the police about it, the video will spread."

Murasakibara seemed to be thinking for a moment. "Look, I admit I enjoyed hacking and looking at random videos at times, but I never stoop to threatening ransom notes."

"Then who did it?!" yelled Kagami, trying to squeeze an answer from Murasakibara because, damn, even he was now confused at what was going on.

"Maybe you should ask Hana-chin. Usually I do most of the hacking and I depend on him for socializing stuff," directed the violethead.

"Hana-chin?"

"Hanamiya Makoto, the person you captured alongside me, dumbass."

Kagami let the last one slide because he's too engrossed with his work now.

* * *

"So you are the one responsible for the ransom note to Araki-san?" asked Riko. Kagami stood beside her in a strong standing pose, a way to intimidate the suspects.

Hanamiya, sitting still on the chair, chuckled a bit. "What ransom note are you talking about, miss?"

"Don't try to fuck around, Hanamiya," gruntled Kagami, now feeling his anger seeping back into his head. "You better spill everything here or…"

"Or what?" asked Hanamiya again, tossing more fire onto Kagami's flaming heart. "You can't do anything more than asking me menacingly, right?"

Now Kagami understand how Hanamiya was the one that do all the socializing stuff, according to the purple giant. He knew how to play the world around his fingers. Kagami pinched his forehead, trying to calm down before asking the next question.

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Threaten Araki-san with the video." Riko and Kagami simultaneously asked and replied to Hanamiya.

Suddenly, the raven-haired boy made a gloomy face, making Riko concerned.

"I-I…Had to do it…Or my family member and Murasakibara will…" Hanamiya sobbed, and his hands wiped the tears that fell from his eyes.

"What about your family?" asked Kagami, now feeling guilty for scaring him earlier.

They were watching Hanamiya crying his heart out, his shoulders shaking up and down. But after a while, the shake turned into a sinister one. An evil laugh escaped Hanamiya's lips.

"You guys fell for that?!" laughed Hanamiya, now his shoulders were shaking for a totally different reason.

Kagami was biting his lips _hard_ , until blood trickled down his chin. "I'm out of here, Corporal," said him in a low tone, and his legs stepped outside without anymore words. He knew, if he stayed a second longer, he might kill Hanamiya for real.

"Now, Hanamiya, seriously," Riko switched on to her Corporal mode, "State why you threaten Araki-san with that video."

Hanamiya delivered a snicker to her. "Because I can."

Riko stepped outside, following Kagami. She can't tell the court that she beat up the suspect dead in their interrogation room later.

* * *

"Kagami-kun," called Kuroko softly. His petite palm held the mug strongly, and his eyes stared at the news featuring about Hanamiya's and Murasakibara's capture on the TV.

Kagami that was beseated on the plushy sofa looked up to Kuroko that was standing behind the couch. "What up?"

"You said before this, people like Akashi-san was the kind of criminal you hate the most, right?"

"Hn," Kagami agreed short, and also asking why Kuroko is asking him this now.

"For me, the kind of criminal I hate the most is Hanamiya-san's." Kuroko sipped in his coffee slowly, but Kagami can feel the ominous aura from Kuroko's reply.

"Not only you, Kuroko," uttered Kagami. His upper lips traced back the wound he got from biting his lips earlier.


End file.
